Recently my husband and I visited Casa Vieja, a brewery in Corrales, New Mexico for happy hour. He hit up the food truck outside which had all these great items that I couldn’t have, including various rolls using egg roll wrappers. Ruben rolls were one of them. I had him take me to the grocery store on the way home to get ingredients to try it with rice paper. YUM!
Rice paper is my go-to when I need some sort of egg roll replacement. I bake them or air fry them to perfection. I’ve seen others fry in oil but I’ve never been successful at that. I’m told by Reddit that you need to leave it in the pan uncomfortably long so that it’s no longer sticking to the bottom before rotating. I may try again. I’ve made various rice paper rolls: buffalo chicken, apple pie filling, sausage and sauerkraut and Lumpia inspired rolls.
I made these ruben rolls several times across a week. The first 2x for myself and the last for friends. The first time I put the slice of cheese down first, then the roast beef, sauerkraut and Thousand Island. I rolled the cheese and meat around the sauerkraut to keep it inside before rolling the whole bit in the rice paper. Doubling up on rice paper helps. After cooking in the air fryer I noticed that some of the cheese melted out. The next time I tried I switch it so the meat went first then the cheese etc. I rolled the meat around everything then the rice paper around that. The cheese didn’t leak! Once they are fully cooked you can eat as is or dip in more thousand island. One of my friends is a known picky eater and she loved them!
If you are getting fresh deli cut roast beef, which I recommend if possible, double check the labels because some are cut on same equipment as wheat or in the same facility. However it will have the disclaimer on the label. Prepackaged roast beef is plentiful and works as well. You may need to use a few slices.
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Prepare your rice paper as the package directs and place on a flat surface.
Place a slice of corned beef on the middle of the rice paper, tope with a slice of swiss cheese then spoon in some sauerkraut and poor some thousand island on tope.
Roll the sauerkraut with the beef and cheese so the sauerkraut and thousand island is in the middle.
Now roll your corned beef roll with the rice paper, like a burrito.
Double wrap by using another piece of rice paper and rolling.
Set aside until you make all your rolls.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Place your roll son a baking sheet, either baste with oil or spray with oil on all sides.
Bake for 17 minutes, flip then bake for another 17 minutes.
Preheat Air Fryer to 400 degrees and air fry for 20-22 minutes.